Sometimes the simplest gifts are the best
Poems by Laurence Meehan
The simplest present remains the best
Sometimes the simplest gifts are the best
I give you my love this Christmas.
Wrapped in the care of a father.
Smiling from behind my steel rimmed specs
And warming you with a hug in my winter best.
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Welcome inside my Christmas Wonderland.
I made each decoration by hand, paper and twine
I could have bought them... but these are mine.
I hope you like them; they are the planets you loved to talk about.
I added tinsel to make them all stand out.
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I left something under the tree
Something nice from your Mum and me.
A Hornby train set like the one in the ad.
Too expensive for a boy to have.
But there it was beyond your smile
I watched you play all day
Tracks a mile.
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I leave you these memories under your tree
Married and happy, and now older than me.
Your children grown up and boy you were blessed.
Sometimes the simplest present.
Remains the best.
I wish it could be Christmas every day
Christmas has no Christ
No Mass, either come to think of it!
You know, to celebrate the birth of Jesus
Just a load of food we eat
and Black Friday gifts to please us.
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Christmas has no Cliff Richard
No mistletoe or wine
No logs on the fire
Central heating is fine.
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Christmas has no TV Guide
Where you’d plan out the movies
You would sit down with your family
And sit right through “The Goonies”
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Christmas has no queues
Sure we can order online
Anything at all
So why go and mingle
Or jingle at the mall?
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Christmas has no conversation
With a friend or relation
Unless they are on Tic-Toc or Instagram
Oh my God, the sheer frustration.
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Oh Christmas, where have you gone?
I just want some turkey
Some tinsel and cheer.
Some charades after Persuasion
Some love for occasion!
A little excitement you know!
When we’d all get together
And sing Let It Snow
When we’d all shop for batteries
On St Stephen’s Day
To find that one shop open
Ah God bless the day.
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We live in abundance
Nothing is special or new
Every day is Christmas
That damn song came true.
Laurence Meehan is a member of Inklings Writing Group, who meet on Tuesdays 11am in the Annebrook House Hotel. Last meeting of 2024 on December 17.